For the third time in 5 minutes, John checked his watch. Sweat dripped down his face, he was a mess. He knew what he was doing was wrong. "These people never did anything to you" said the voice in the back of his head. "Shut-up! I need the money and I'm not hurting anyone" John said to himself. John lit a smoke to ease his nervousness, and watched the driveway carefully. Time seemed to move slowly; minutes felt like hours. Finally, the car pulled out. He knew better then to go rushing in; John waited 30 minutes before making his move. In a slow crouch, John moved across the lawn like a shadow. He made his way to the window and took out his tools. Carefully selecting a razor sharp knife, he began cutting a hole. He had just finished making the first incision when he heard a noise. "Crash!" It seemed to come from the upstairs window. John was tempted to turn-tail and run back to his car. But he needed the money, so he cringed and waited 5 minutes before resuming. Finally, the glass was loose enough. Out of his bag of tools, he grabbed a suction cup and attached it to the glass. He pulled it out, making as little noise as possible. John opened the window from the inside. "So far so good" he thought to himself. He climbed into the window, entering the family room.

Something was wrong inside the house. John didn’t know how exactly he knew, but he could sense a disturbance. Against his better judgment, John continued into the darkness of the house. A half-full wine bottle sat on the kitchen table, along with cigarettes. John knew that the Family had only a 17 year old daughter . The only threat John felt was of the possibly drunk daughter in the house. He hadn't factored that into his plan. John made his ascent up the staircase as quietly as possible. With each step, his heart pounded. He was afraid that it was so loud that the girl could hear it. Dismissing this silly thought, he made his way to the parents bed room. "Clank!" John stopped dead in his tracks. He could hear noises coming from the room next to the parents. Unable to resist the temptation, John peeked into the keyhole. The room was a mess. Clothes were everywhere, the wall was broken in two places, and her bed frame was cracked. The daughter was on the floor breathing hard. She looked like a whipped dog; beaten and scared. In to Johns field of vision walked in a man looking to be around her age. John would have thought that he was the boyfriend, except he had this look on disgusting look on his face. He looked like he wanted to tear the girl up, and the girl definitely believed he could do it. Blood covered his left hand from where it looked like he had got bitten. He approached her one step at a time. "Pat, pat, pat" The paneled wood creaked as he made his way.

John tore his eyes away from the key hole. He couldn’t handle watching anymore of this twisted situation any longer. His consciousness was eating him alive. But he knew that if he didn’t finish the job, he would also suffer a similar fate as the girl. John was in deep debt to the local mafia. He tried to shake off the guilt he felt, and made his way to the parents room. John knew exactly where the safe was. He had previous been given a blueprint of the house and knew it like the back of his hand. John pulled out his knife once again and started cutting into the carpet. After removing the middle section, John had found the safe. The safe was a German made Kleinsasser premium. It would auto-lock after he had failed one attempt, also notifying the police in the process. He had one shot at this, and he was confident that he only needed one. Across the hall, whimpering noises could be heard. The girl was yelling "please don’t do this… please I'll do anything else." I have money I can pay you." John heard the malignant laughter resonating through the hallway. "Slut if I wanted money I would have taken it. That’s not what I want. You know what I want." John could just imagine the nasty expression this pervert was wearing. He knew if this continued, the girl was going to end up more than hurt. This didn’t help with his whole one-shot-at-opening-crazy-German-safe predicament either. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, John gritted his teeth and began entering in the combination. John put his ear up to the safe, and deliberately started turning the dial. One mistake and John knew it was all over. He knew that the police would be signified whether someone had just tried to break into the safe. "tick tick tick tick click". "One down and two to go," John said in his head. He was half-way through the second number when the screaming started up.

"NO! please stop… PLEASE! Anything else," said the girl. She imagined her being humiliated in terrible ways. John heard a sharp "clang" and then he heard more whimpering. "Tick tick tick… click". John had successfully gotten the 2nd number. Not the first time in the night, John wiped the sweat off his face. But he realized that it wasn’t just sweat. He was crying. John was crying for the girl who he stood by and let her get humiliated. Crying to himself, John continued onto the third number. "Tick tick tick… click". John had done it; he had finally gotten it done. Then the girl started crying also. They weren't angry tears or sad tears, they were the tears of the broken. John put his hand on the dial and spun it. "click… tick tick" the safe auto-locked and started flashing red. He slumped down onto his knees, burying his head in his hands. He couldn’t live with himself anymore for what he did to that girl. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t the one hurting her; he let it happen. The sirens were getting louder and John keeps on feeling smaller. John hears the cops breaking into the house. He hears the pervert cursing and yelling. But its all so distant to him, like it’s a dream. However, his dream is broken abruptly by a gun in his face.

"Freeze! This is the police. Hands where I can see them." says the officer. John doesn’t argue or put up a fight. He submits willingly to the police. As the police walks him through the hall, he comes face to face with the girl. Her eyelid is split, she has bruises all over, and her clothes are torn. John is afraid to look into her eyes. He is afraid to see the pain he has caused. As John walks past her, she whispers two words.

"Thank You"